Sunday, November 15, 2015

Reading about the atrocities committed in Paris
yesterday, I was struck by a parallel between the Paris attacks and the recent
crackdown on China's civil society. This parallel had to do with how civil
society should respond to terrorism of all kinds, whether domestic, transnational or state terrorism. What we saw in Paris appeared to be a blend of domestic and transnational terrorism. But terrorism
can also be of the state variety carried out by state actors such as the police
and government security forces against its citizens.The latter is what Chinese civil society –
NGOs, human rights lawyers, labor activists – is currently facing in a
sustained clampdown that is well into its second year.

In formulating an answer, one thing to keep
in mind is the important role the media plays in conditioning our response. Unfortunately,
much of the media magnifies the effect of terrorism by focusing on the violence
and brutality of the action, and instilling a sense of fear and helplessness
with headlines like “Paris Terror,” “Terror in Europe,” “An Awful Realization:
Terror Strikes Again” and the unfortunately-worded “Massive Muslim Terror
Attack in Paris.”

The same is true of the way media and human
rights organizations often report on the Chinese government’s crackdown on
activists and NGOs. The narrative is to portray them as victims who are
helpless in the face of overwhelming state power. To be fair, we need to be informed
about civil society's plight so that it can receive attention and support from the
international community, and both the media and human rights organizations play
an important role here. But the narrative can become so one-sided
and deafening that it can have a paralyzing effect on both activists and
bystanders. People and organizations stop what they are doing or change their
usual routine, lie low or head for shelter to escape the impending storm. But
this behavior is precisely what terrorists intend, to instill a sense of fear
and helplessness among citizens so that they will give into the agenda of those
who seek to terrorize them.

The way for citizens and civil society
organizations to respond to terrorism is to resist this narrative, and stand
firm, resolute and optimistic in the face of terrorism, and continue to work with
others to move forward on making the world a better, more equitable and yes
more hopeful place.After the Paris attacks, there will be a great deal of work to be done in advancing that agenda. Finding and working
hand-in-hand with like-minded people is important because solidarity provides
the empowering effect needed to resist fear, helplessness and anomie.

I realize this may all sound obvious but it
is actually very difficult to do when the dominant narrative does not encourage
this mindset. These days I meet with funders, and representatives from foreign
governments and international organizations, who tend to treat us like victims,
buying into the narrative that the space for civil society is closing. We are
viewed with sympathy, but when we say we are finding ways to move our work
forward and are looking for funding, our remarks are received with skepticism
and we’re told how many Chinese organizations cannot carry out their projects
because of the crackdown. I almost want to say, listen we have a labor movement to build and it can't wait. But I sense a passive response from us is
what is expected, while an optimistic, defiant response gets challenged instead of
supported.

So I was happy today to find a sign that
some (many?) citizens in Paris are responding to the attacks with great courage and
optimism. That sign was not in any headlines but buried deep in the middle of
one article on the Paris attacks. A French woman who was on her morning run was
asked for her reaction to the attacks. She said she was still trying to process
the events, but without succumbing to fear. “This is not Iraq or Afghanistan. We
are not at war here. We need to stay confident and hopeful.”

That quote beautifully expresses the
attitude that civil society can and should take in response to terrorism.